Wisconsin-based Kohler, the manufacturing company that has specialized in kitchen and bath fixtures and faucets for over 140 years, believes its Vancouver location is the best spot for its first showroom in Canada.

The 5,000-square-foot show room opened last month at Broadway and Fir.

“This is ground zero for where we need to be,” says David Kohler, president and CEO of his family’s business, where he has worked for over 25 years.

“I think Vancouver’s absolutely one of the most important markets in Canada, and certainly also in North America,” Kohler says. “Certainly it goes through cycles, but it’s seen strong growth in the last decade. I think Vancouver economy’s remained strong because of its own business, as well as immigration.”

There is also a great design sensibility here, Kohler says, evident in the quality of the buildings, both commercial and residential developments.

“The quality of luxury, residential design and building going on in the market,” he says. “Really, there is an incredible amount of creativity and design and growth happening in the construction sector, and I think it’s been underserved in terms of the quality of the showrooms, and venues for consumers, and architects, designers, specifiers, to come and see product, and have great expertise and sales assistance and service.”

When it comes to plumbing products, it’s important to have a space where people can see and feel the products and seek consultation, Kohler says.

“Consumers today want to shop in a variety of ways,” he says. “And they’ll mix channels too, so some consumers may prefer to shop online, some want to shop in a beautiful showroom with a depth of services like this so they can get expert help, and so we have to make sure that our products and services are available in all of those key venues. We absolutely feel that all the business is never going to go online. There will be a portion of people who want to shop that way and for certain projects — maybe a replacement project — but when you get into a full major remodel you want to see how things work together and work with an expert who can help you select the right shower valves. I mean plumping is not simple. It’s not like going and buying a car that’s not interconnected with the rest of your home.”

Kohler now employs over 37,000 people around the world, with manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S., Mexico, Asia and Europe, and has the “widest breadth and depth of product in the plumbing industry,” says Donna Church, manager of marketing and communications for Kohler Canada.

Church and her team are based just outside Toronto and, she says, it’s interesting to note the style preferences of Kohler’s Canadian customers.

“In Canada, we tend to have more of a contemporary design desire than in, say, the United States,” she says. “We’re design forward, we’re more influenced by Europe, and also the Asian countries, where there’s a lot of technology, and so we do have more of a contemporary design desire as far as finishes go.”

Kohler bathtub in their new showroom, on Broadway and Fir, in Vancouver. SuppliedERIC PETERSON /
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There has been a real demand for different finishes, and products that allow for mix and matching different styles to achieve unique combinations, says Church, and Kohler has responded with its Artifacts line of faucets.

“We call it Artifacts because it’s like taking an eclectic grouping of things, and creating your own designs,” she says. “Our customers are really interested in customization and being able to create something that is special and unique for their place. We see that in clothes and shoes — people being able to add their own design — and so we’ve introduced a similar approach, where the handles and spouts can be combined in different ways.”

The beauty of Kohler’s South Granville showroom is that it’s big enough to put all their products together in stylish kitchen and bathroom configurations, Church says, to give their customers a real idea of what can be achieved.

Their impressive range of ‘intelligent’ toilets has been designed with cleanliness in mind, says Church. She says the “smartest of them all” is Numi, which has a built-in bidet, and projects a discreet blue line on the floor, designed “for the men in our lives”, which, when interrupted (by say a foot), triggers the toilet seat to rise.

“The other really cool and smart things about it is there’s actually a foot warmer underneath at the front to warm the tile around your feet,” she says.

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